Saturday, 27 December 2014

Everyone knows I enjoy drinking alcohol. They even know I
drink like a fish! *guffaw* I love my reds and single malts in the evening. I
enjoy cool and refreshing ales, beers and whites during a hot day.

I would typically turn red after a few drinks but I
generally would ignore the cosmetic side effects to have a good time! Yes,
that’s how much I enjoy my drinks!

Why do I turn red? No, it’s not because my blood circulation
is in excellent condition. No, it’s not really due to any allergy to alcohol. No,
it’s not because my genetics have malfunctioned. No, it’s not because I’m
Chinese or Asian.

It has been scientifically proven that most Asian especially
Japanese, Chinese and Koreans respond to alcohol by turning red. So there
is no surprise when you see a sea of red faces (think loyal Man U supporters!)
all over bars and clubs in Asia. In Europe, alcohol-drinking Asians will stick
out like the red lights in red light districts!

Alcohol is metabolised in our liver where it is oxidised
first to acetaldehyde and then converted to acetate by an enzyme known as
aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2). Those who turn red after a bit of alcohol have
a genetic change in their ALDH2. The
gene variant causes the body to metabolise alcohol more quickly, but become
less efficient in breaking down acetaldehyde. The build-up of
acetaldehyde is what causes your blood vessels to dilate and your skin to turn
red. Sometimes one will also experience itchiness on the skin and the body gets
redder after scratching it! Drink too much and chances are you’ll forget your
red face/body and itchy skin, as you end up throwing up and busy sorting out
your mess!

This condition is known as alcohol flush reaction. Since it typically
happens to Asians, it is also called the Asian flush/glow.

Recent studies have revealed evidence that ALDH2-deficient
individuals are at much higher risk of
developing esophageal cancer from consuming alcohol than those with a
fully active ALDH2. Esophageal cancer also happens to be one of the deadliest cancers in the world with
pretty low survival rates. Acetaldehyde is a metabolite of alcohol but is also
an animal carcinogen and mutagen with recognised cancer-promoting properties. When
the tissues of your upper aerodigestive tract are repeatedly exposed to
acetaldehyde, the probability of DNA damage and mutation could also increase. OUCH!
NO SHIT!

Since this is a genetic problem there’s no cure for alcohol flush except to completely
abstain from alcohol. If you get red, you should think about drinking less as
you’re putting yourself at a higher risk of developing both cancer and
hypertension. If you can’t completely abstain from alcohol, drink moderately
and this is defined as one to two drinks a day for men, and one drink a day for
women.

Sunday, 21 December 2014

This is the "base" Submariner, which every collector must have in their repertoire of watch collection. In stainless steel, it's a very versatile piece for both casual, work and formal attires. Without the date feature, it has a very clean look and feel. I actually like the no-date feature as it's easier to adjust before wearing *LOL*

I bought this from a good friend complete with box and papers and after 9 months I sold it to another good friend. It's all good as this piece is still within my family of friends!

So, if you are 200lbs, you’ll
need the following amount of protein daily based on the above four objectives:-

a. Survival- 160g daily or 26.7g
per meal for 6 times a day

b. Maintaining- 200g daily or
33.3g per meal for 6 times a day

c. Bulking- 300g daily or 50g per
meal for 6 times a day

d. Cutting- 250g daily or 41.7g
per meal for 6 times a day

You’re probably wondering why the
daily protein intake is divided into 6 equal portions. Well, there’s no way you
can eat such amount of protein over 3 meals daily- you’ll be stuffed! You could
as an alternative ingest protein shakes but not all the time as you need real
food. The idea here is to constantly feed your body sufficient amount of
protein so that it can absorb the same constantly to build muscles. Take too
much protein at a meal and chances are your body will store it as fat. When you
take protein periodically every 2 to 3 hours, your metabolic rate will be kept high
throughout the day, which is good! I eat (protein included) 6 times a day and I
consume a mix of real food and protein shakes.

You would also probably wonder
why protein intake during cutting is more than during maintenance. Protein has
a very high thermic effect of food (“TEF”)- how much energy your body has to
burn to be able to use it. Carbs and fat have roughly 5% TEF. Protein has 20% TEF.
That means if you eat 1,000 calories of protein, you instantly “lose” 200
calories as your body needs to burn that much just to be able to use that
protein. Furthermore, when you are cutting, your body has to get energy
from somewhere. It will get this energy from your body in the forms of adipose
(fat), glycogen (carbs), and skeletal muscle (protein). This means, protein is very
important when cutting as it helps burn itself off and when your body needs to
extract energy, it helps minimize any loss from skeletal muscle (which you want
to keep!)

Thursday, 27 November 2014

2nd wine of Chateau Cantemerle, which is a Fifth Growth. 61% Cabernet
Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc. Even as a second wine,
grapes were individually hand-sorted before fermentation and the wine
spent 12 months in 20% new French oak before bottling.

Friday, 21 November 2014

This is my very first Rolex and it can't get any better than this stylish looking vintage Rolex (released in the 1970s) that's no longer in production. I like the modern classic good looks! I especially love the open 6s and 9s and I look forward to wearing it on the 6th, 9th, 16th, 19th, 26th and 29th of the month!

Briefly, the Oysterquartz utilizes Rolex’s fine thermocompensated quartz
movement placed inside a heavier than usual Oyster case and held to the
wrist with a heavier than normal bracelet. Although it's 36mm, it looks slightly larger due to the thicker casing. It actually sits pretty well on my wrist.

I had originally bought this for Wifey but even at the smallest wrist size, it was still too loose for her. So I gladly took it over as my pride and joy! :-) I typically wear this with work clothes or formal wear to exude a touch of class!

...I also wear this when I'm rushing and have no time to adjust my other automatic or manual-wound watches!!! :-PPP

Saturday, 15 November 2014

What do you
absolutely need before bedtime? Sex? Well, hell yeah! But this is equally
important… ;-P

I’m talking about
food. Yes, your last meal before going to bed (or before having sex!) *guffaw*

It is important
to note that the right meal before you retire for the day can have a
positive effect on your overall training result as this important meal
helps your body recover from your exercise by feeding your muscles with quality
nutrition as you sleep.

You have to be
selective and not pick unhealthy food such as fast food or ice cream or roti
canai or fried rice etc. Choose the right food based on the following general rules:

Rule #1: Avoid
carbs and insulin

Consuming carbs will
result in a significant insulin release. This will in turn put the breaks on
fat burning. In addition, carbs are easily stored as fat in the evening hours
when metabolism is naturally slowing in preparation for sleep. Furthermore,
you will definitely have very little opportunity to burn off that energy after
consuming carbs at night as you don’t burn much calories when you are asleep.

So you’ll surely
think, “that’s ok, I’ll just have protein”. Well, certain proteins such as red
meat and fish have been shown to yield a significant insulin response as
well. While these proteins are generally acceptable for a pre-bed
meal, there are better choices, like those mentioned below.

Rule #2:
Choose slow digesting proteins

Slow digesting proteins
such as turkey and chicken meat are great pre-bedtime meal choices as they
digest slowly and they don’t really produce a significant amount of insulin.

Another great choice
is the milk protein casein found in some supplements and also in cottage
cheese. Casein has the ability to coat the stomach, digest slowly
and provide quality nutrition to your muscles over several hours (time-released
properties) and thus makes a perfect pre-bedtime meal!

Rule #3: Add fat

Before you cuss at
me and ask me whether I’ve gone out of my mine, let me qualify myself…yes, add
fat…but only quality and healthy fats such as nuts and nut butters that will
help to further slow gastric emptying and digestion while increasing
fullness and satiety.

Sunday, 9 November 2014

Lavender is doesn’t only have a beautiful purplish-blue colour but it’s
also widely known as the healing herb.

The powerful healing abilities of lavender are derived from the chemical
composition of this herb. You can freely and confidently use lavender to treat bites, burns, wounds,
fatigue, depression, fatigue, cramps etc. Its wide variety of healing abilities
makes it one of the most popular plants on the face of the earth.

Below are the 7 healing wonders of lavender:-

#1: Lavender
is an antiseptic or disinfectant

#2: Lavender
is an expectorant that helps soothe coughs

#3: Lavender
is an analgesic that relieves headaches, pains, discomforts and tension

#4: Lavender
is used in aromatherapy that has calming properties and induces sleep

Monday, 3 November 2014

You've
probably read and heard that red wine can be a very healthy beverage (heck, I
too have personally covered this a few times in my previous posts!). However, you
most likely only read and heard about generic benefits of drinking red wine,
i.e. the antioxidants and resveratrol.

These
are other key reasons why drinking red wine in moderation (1-2 glasses per day
max) can be a super healthy part of your diet:-

1.
People who drank red wine moderately per day (only dry red wine and not the
sugary dessert wine variant) had higher levels of beneficial bacteria in their
gut and lower levels of pathogenic bad bacteria in their gut. Harmony and
balance in your gut is crucial to everything from your digestion, immunity,
metabolism, skin health etc.

2.
In addition to decreasing pathogenic bacteria in the gut, red wine consumption
also has a prebiotic effect in the gut in that it supports the growth and
colonies of healthy gut microbes, which ultimately protect and promote good health.

3.
Red wine drinkers have lower levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure,
triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and CRP (C-reactive protein). CRP is a
measure of overall inflammation in your body, so it's great to see an
association between red wine and reduced inflammation.

4.Red
wine consumed with a meal can slow and moderate the blood sugar response you
get from that meal. This is yet another benefit to keeping your hormones
balanced, controlling insulin levels, controlling appetite and staying lean!

You’ll
not be able to derive any of the above benefits by drinking equivalent servings
of another alcoholic beverage. This is because the benefits above are related
to the polyphenols and resveratrol in red wine and not the alcohol content
itself.

So
go ahead and choose your favourite Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Shiraz or any
other dry red wine to pair with your meal! I know just which French red to open
for my next meal… :-)

Tuesday, 28 October 2014

Typical nose of passionfruit and mild lychee. Found this wine quite tart initially. After awhile, I started to taste apples and pears but the overall acidity and citrus notes were rather overwhelming. Quite edgy but refreshing nonetheless. Not my fav white, I'm afraid...

Second Growth. Even though this wine was classified as a Second Growth in the 1855
classification, this vineyard is special and often considered by those in the know to be as good as
any of the First Growths. This inevitable represents great value where you can enjoy First Growth quality for maybe half the price! Chateau Leoville Las Cases borders on the north with Chateau Latour and has often
been called the Latour of St. Julien.

Thursday, 16 October 2014

Here’s 1 of
my BIGGEST training secrets…always mix your training every time you hit the
gym. This applies to all your muscle groups. It can be mixing the angles or
reps or sets or the combination etc. Whatever it is, just mix it up!

Say you are
training your biceps. You can do the following:-

Heavy weight:
5 reps x 20 sets

Normal
weight: 15 reps X 10 sets

Light weight:
20 reps x 10 sets

You can use a
straight Olympic bar or EZ bar, you can stand or sit down in an incline
position, you can even use dumbbells or the preacher curl rest, you can do the
weights as a pyramid or a half pyramid, different lifting an resting tempos etc.
The idea here is to constantly mix it up.

What happens
here is that you are constantly shocking your muscles and this is an extremely
important element in weight training. When you keep your muscles off balance,
they work harder as they can never build up a resistance and that gives you a
better result that equates to muscle growth!

You shouldn’t
be doing the same routine etc at every workout as you’ll never maximize your
result. Your muscles tend to become complacent and resist growth if you are
constantly doing the same workout.

Friday, 10 October 2014

I’m a vain pot
and they call me Vain Ken! There you
have it! I’ve admitted I’m vain! *LOL*

I’m in my mid-30s
and I’m not waiting ‘til I’m older to start taking natural anti-aging
nutrients. Best to start early if possible to defy each passing year!

Below are what I
regularly take (mostly the first 4 items) to help me stay youthful:-

1. Red
Wine - Its resveratrol
content is a unique anti-oxidant that can help fight against diabetes, heart
disease and age-related memory loss (drink too much and you’ll have momentary
memory lapses! *LOL*)

2. Beans
- The unique proteins in
beans thicken and strengthen your hair cells resulting in a fully head of hair
(hopefully it’s only applicable to the larger head! *LOL*)

3.
Tomatoes - Tomatoes are
rich in lycopene, which has been shown to support heart health and healthy
cholesterol levels as you age. Lycopene also acts as a natural sun block
to keep skin youthful and protected from harmful UV rays. However, this doesn’t
mean you don’t have to apply sunblock when you go out in the hot sun ya ;-)

4. Olive
Oil - The monounsaturated
fats contained in olive oil support healthy arteries and a healthy heart, while
the polyphenols, which is a potent anti-oxidant helps prevent a number of
age-related diseases. Organic extra virgin olive oil is arguable the
best!

5.
Brazil Nuts - Brazil nuts are
rich in selenium, a mineral which aids in the production of the anti-oxidant
glutathione to help slow down the skin aging process. Just 2 nuts a day
will provide you with enough selenium to reap its anti-aging benefits.

6.
Raspberries & Blueberries – They contain important anti-oxidants that help offset inflammation and
oxidative stress that contribute to skin aging and wrinkles. Just one
serving of either contains more anti-oxidants than 10 servings of most other
fruits and vegetables! Berry up!

7.
Organic Eggs - Eggs are
rich in biotin and iron which help to promote healthy, youthful skin and hair.

Sunday, 28 September 2014

A powerful and vibrant red made of 100% merlot. Love the dark garnet colour. Pretty decent legs. Still rather sharp tasting now and tastes quite spicy when open.
Typical intense nose of dark berries, plum and spice. Tinge of rustic earthy scent. Medium bodied. Tannins are still edgy. Needs a few years to mellow down and for tannins to be rounded. I think it tastes best after close to 1.5 hours of decanting. Pretty smooth and elegant after decanting. A value for money French red.

Monday, 22 September 2014

I'm quite a "lazy"
bugger so I like doing compound movements to cut short my workout. Compound
movements save time as it involves a few muscle groups working together
simultaneously when you execute them. Since each compound movement involves
multiple muscle groups, it definitely takes more effort to execute it. Examples
of compound movements are deadlifts, barbell chest press, squats, bend over
barbell rows etc.

Bend over barbell rows are great
as you not only workout your back but also your forearms, biceps, traps,
triceps, abs, thighs and hamstrings! It's also one of the best ways to add real
power, real strength and mass to your back.

There are a few variants and all
are great movements depending on which specific muscles groups you plan to
target...

Variant #1 – Pronated Grip (Palms Down)

This is the most traditional row.
Lift the barbell up safely and bend over so that your body is at about 45
degree angle. Thoroughly tighten your legs, gluts, lower back and keep your
head in a neutral position. Pull the barbell towards your belly button and hold
for a second before lowering it.

Barbell bend over row with the
pronated grip is more demanding on your body, your grip strength, your forearms
and your back because your biceps do not assist you much when you execute the
barbell rows.

Variant #2 – Supinated Grip (Palms Up)

With this grip, you actually draw your elbows closer
to your body. It gives you an advantage as you are able to bring your biceps
more into play with this grip variant. With your biceps more involved and your
elbows closer to your body, you will have more power and more strength to
execute your bend over rows. Once again, pull the barbell towards your belly
button and hold for a second before lowering it.

This could arguably be the best
grip to begin with if you have never done a barbell bend over row before!

Variant #3 - Pronated Grip Pulling Higher Towards
the Chest

A
slightly different variant is to
hold the barbell using the pronated grip and pull the barbell higher up towards
your upper abs and just below your chest. This is significantly harder and you
are likely to pull lighter weights.

This movement forces your elbow
out wider so now you are hitting more of your upper back, your deltoids and
your rhomboids. You tend not to workout your lower back much with this
movement.

You select an ideal weight that will adequately challenge you for a triple drop set of 12 reps, 10 reps and 8 reps with 10 seconds of rest between each set. Once you complete the drop set of 12-10-8 reps, that's considered 1 set. You do 3 sets for each movement or each muscle group.

In a triple drop set circuit, you'll apply the above concept for 1 chest movement, 1 back movement, 1 leg movement, 1 shoulder movement, 1 triceps movement and 1 biceps movement. 6 movements or muscles groups in total. You move from 1 movement to the other with just 10 seconds of rest between each movement. Once you finish all 6 movements, repeat the entire workout once more and you are done!

I bet my last dollar you'll ache all over the next day! No pain no gain, right? *guffaw*

Friday, 5 September 2014

Deep,
concentrated ruby in color. Rich, complex ripe red and black fruits aromas
on the nose and flavours on the palate. Tastes of interwoven blackberry and raspberry
jam with smooth dark chocolate. Excellent
structure. Approachable tannins and acidity. 75% merlot and 25% cabernet sauvignon. Drinking
well now, but it will age beautifully through 2018.

Although this is the second label of Chateau Phelan-Segur, it doesn't
feel as if it's second best. Sure it's much more affordable compared to
it bigger brother but Frank Phelan stands on its own pedestal and wears
its own crown.

Thursday, 28 August 2014

If you want to have nice arms, you'll need to focus on both bicep and tricep exercises. Most people just focus on their bicep as they want to show off their guns. But seriously, you need to train your tricep too for a fuller looking arm.

One of the most effective workouts for building muscle in the arms is using a training technique called "Positions of Flexion".
This basically means training your biceps and triceps through their full
range of motion; starting with a compound mid-range exercise, then
moving on to an exercise that works the muscles in the completely
stretched position, and then finishing with an exercise that works the
muscles in the fully contracted position.

This concept is certainly not new and Arnold Schwarzenegger previously used this style of
training for his workouts. His arm development was stunning to say the least.

About Me

A Malaysian corporate consultant/manager who is also an avid fitness buff. Formerly flabulous. Trying hard to be fabulous. Enjoys the finer things in life (especially good food and wine!)...which is probably why fabulosity is rather illusive. Believes fitness is a way of life, not a fad. Firm believer of fitness being a life-long commitment and way of life. Fitness it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Greetings

Hi, I'm Less....Flabby Less (trying to mimic James Bond!) :-P

Welcome to my humble blog.

In this blog, I shall share my personal thoughts, experiences and knowledge about health and fitness, training programmes, nutrition and supplements, food (sinfully delicious food included!), wine/spirits (how can we not pair sinfully delicious food with elixir of life?!) and the likes. Occasionally, I may even share random stuff too.

I hope you enjoy reading my posts. Feel free to drop me an email should you have any queries. I'm happy to respond and ever ready to make new friends.

Ciao,Mr. Flabby Less

Disclaimer

Posts found in this blog are strictly the private opinion and view of Mr. Flabby Less, mostly from personal experience.

Photos, videos and web links are not properties of Mr. Flabby Less, save for when explicitly mentioned.